Tuesday, December 11, 2018

5 Off My Head: Siri Says 1964

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We haven't had time to talk to the little lady that lives inside of our phones for months now! The poor lady got so angry she up and left, who can blame her, and I had to buy a brand new phone to have somebody to talk to. (Don't judge me.) So today, with an extra hour to spare and a guilty weight upon my heart I figure why not, let's communicate with this new sucker.

That's right, it's time for our "Siri Says" series, in which I ask my telephone to tell me a number between 1 and 100 and then choose my favorite movies from the year that corresponds with that number. We've done well over half of all the numbers by now and so it always takes a few tries to get a fresh number out of Siri but today it only took, well, like seven tries. That's not so bad! And Siri gave me "64" (eventually) and so today we're celebrating The Movies of 1964. Let's take a look!

My 5 Favorite Movies of 1964

(dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
-- released on November 9th, 1964 --

(dir. Jacques Demy)
-- released on December 16, 1964 --

(dir. Stanley Kubrick)
-- released on January 29th, 1964 --

(dir. Mario Bava)
-- released on April 10th, 1964 --

(dir. Roger Corman)
-- released on September 16th, 1964 --

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Runners-up: Goldfinger (dir. Guy Hamilton), Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (dir. Robert Aldrich), Strait Jacket (dir. William Castle), That Man From Rio (dir. Phillippe de Broca)...

... What a Way To Go! (dir. Thompson), The Last Man on Earth (dir. Sidney Salko), The Gorgon (dir. Terence Fisher), The Comedy of Terrors (dir. Tourneur), The Naked Kiss (dir. Samuel Fuller)... 

...... Kitten With a Whip (dir. Douglas Hayes), First Men in the Moon (dir. Nathan Juran), Onibaba (dir. Kaneto Shindô), Tomb of Ligeia (dir. Corman), Ghidora, The Three-Headed Monster (dir. Honda), Kwaidan (dir. Masaki Kobayashi), Dead Ringer (dir. Paul Henreid), Zorba the Greek (dir. Michael Cacoyannis)

Never seen: A Hard Day's Night (dir. Richard Lester), Becket (dir. Peter Glenville), A Married Woman (dir. Jean-luc Godard), Band of Outsiders (dir. Godard), Nothing But the Best (dir. Clive Donner), Joy House (dir. Rene Clement), I Am Cuba (dir. Mikhail Kalatozov), Marriage Italian Style (dir. Vittorio De Sica), Diary of a Chambermaid (dir. Bunuel)

What are your favorite movies of 1964?
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14 comments:

Pierce said...

A Hard Day's Night is a terrific movie, beautifully directed by Richard Lester and a lot of fun. Becket is marvelous for its acting. Band of Outsiders was given an awful transfer from Criterion, Marriage Italian Style is sexy fun with Marcello Mastreonni and Sophia Loren. Haven't seen A Married Woman , Nothing But the Best Joy House , I Am Cuba or Diary of a Chambermaid myself.

The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao is dated and by today's standards sexist and racist, but it's a clever film.
The Americanization of Emily. Julie Andrews and James Garner.
Bedtime Story, the first version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Available on YouTube
The Best Man, outstanding political drama
• The Chalk Garden, Edith Evans, Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills
• Cheyenne Autumn, tough to sit through but superb cinematography
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, A great cold war comedy.
First Men in the Moon, special effects by Ray Harryhausen
Goodbye Charlie, starring Debbie Reynolds, Tony Curtis, Walter Matthau, Pat Boone, very funny.
• Hamlet (a.k.a. Richard Burton's Hamlet), a superb production. on Youtube
• Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland, better than Baby Jane!
• Marnie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery, an underrated classic

• Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, a magnificent achievement
• The Moon-Spinners, starring Hayley Mills, superv film. Pola Negri's last movie
• Mothra vs. Godzilla (Godzilla vs. The Thing), a treasure
• My Fair Lady, excellent
• The Naked Kiss, underrated classic
The Pawnbroker, superb indie movie.
• Robin and the 7 Hoods, A rat pack comedy
• Séance on a Wet Afternoon, Kim Stanley. Enough said!
• Seven Up! – documentary – (U.K.) The first of the series.

• The Three Lives of Thomasina, charming
• Topkapi, delightful comedy
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg), Jacques Demy's masterpiece.,
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Debbie Reynolds is great in this!
• Viva Las Vegas, starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret, enough said!
What a Way to Go!, lots of fun.
• Where Love Has Gone, great trash
• The World of Henry Orient, a wonderful movie
• The Yellow Rolls-Royce, overwrought trash
Zorba the Greek, a classic.

Mark said...

What kind of gay-run blog is this?! The answer to the top five movies of 1964 is:

1. My Fair Lady
2. My Fair Lady
3. My Fair Lady
4. My Fair Lady
5. My Fair Lady

I'm also partial to A Shot in the Dark, and I have a nostalgic fondness for The Incredible Mr Limpet.

joel65913 said...

Glad to see this back! Love doing them. Oh and LOVE the picture of Alan Bates as well!!!

Umbrellas of Cherbourg is just about perfect in every way. A beautiful, delicate masterpiece.

Love some of your other choices. What a Way to Go is such a splashy star-studded joy ride with Shirley MacLaine a riot in the lead, did you know it was meant for Marilyn Monroe who had agreed to it being her next film before her death? Kitten With a Whip is just a flat out hoot with hilarious dialogue.

Of what you haven’t seen of those that I’m familiar with I’d recommend Joy House, Marriage Italian Style, A Hard Day’s Night and Becket.

My top 5:

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Dear Heart
The Chalk Garden
What a Way to Go!
Night of the Iguana

My many runner-ups:

Advance to the Rear
The Americanization of Emily
Becket
The Best Man
Four Days in November
Gertrud
Girl with Green Eyes
Goldfinger
A Hard Day’s Night
Honeymoon Hotel
A House is Not a Home
Hush…Hush Sweet Charlotte
I’d Rather Be Rich
The Incredible Mr. Limpet
Joy House
Kisses for My President
Man’s Favorite Sport
Marriage Italian Style
Mary Poppins
Murder Ahoy!
Murder Most Foul
My Fair Lady
The Pumpkin Eater
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Séance on a Wet Afternoon
Send Me No Flowers
The Soft Skin
Strait-Jacket
That Man from Rio
Topkapi
The Visit
Viva Las Vegas
Where Love Has Gone
Woman of Straw
The Yellow Rolls Royce
Youngblood Hawke

Jason Adams said...

I HATTTTTTTTTTTTE MY FAIR LADY
(I have mentioned this before)

Anonymous said...

The Naked Kiss is so great.

Johnnie said...

Diary of a Chambermaid is lovely. Bunuel and Moreau - a perfect match! She really fits in with his cast of women that manipulate the weaknesses of men.

Johnnie said...

NIGHT OF THE IGUANA!!!!!!!!!!! How can you leave that off????

Mark said...

Jason...who hurt you?

Jason Adams said...

LOL, Mark. Too many people to name! ;)

Johnnie -- I only saw Night of the Iguana once and it didn't really leave much of an impression? I have meant to give it another go though, since I do know people who love it.

As always thanks to everybody who comments on these posts -- they're always my favorites to do because I have amazing readers with deep wells of movie knowledge and I always end up with dozens of great recs from them. Y'ALL RULE

Anonymous said...

You should definitely watch Diary Of A Chambermaid if the opportunity arises - it's as unsettling and twisted as you'd expect from Bunuel, with a terrific Jeanne Moreau as the sensual and morally ambiguous guiding light in all the perverse darkness.

(It repeatedly celebrates Bunuel's foot fetish, too. Luca G. could never! (Who am I kidding, he totally could.))

joel65913 said...

Jason-Night of the Iguana is one of those movies with so much going on between the lines, Some Came Running is another, that it improves with repeat viewings, at least it did for me.

Unknown said...

I would add The Unsinkable Molly Brown to this list.

Shawny said...

Kwaidan, no contest

Anonymous said...

I LOVE this list.